Ebola: African Premier League players who are returning from International matches to be checked for Ebola

Premier League clubs are screening African football players who have returned from international matches for Ebola, amid the Ebola crisis on the continent.

Cheick Tiote, Papiss Cisse and Wilfried Bony are among the players who will be checked for the virus, after competing in African Nations Cup qualifiers.

It comes as health officials announce that airport screening for the killer disease, which was put in place at Heathrow earlier this week, will be extended to Manchester and Birmingham.

Although no players have travelled back to the UK from the worst-affected parts of West Africa, the potential spread of the killer disease is being 'closely considered' by various club medics.

Newcastle United manager Alan Pardew said the club had a 'strategy' in place to closely monitor cup hopefuls Tiote and Cisse, who returned to Tyneside after representing the Ivory Coast and Senegal respectively.

Wilfried Bony, who plays for Swansea, will also be put through tests after returning from playing with the Ivory Coast, his club confirmed.

But Manchester City FC  said the club would 'not be engaging publicly in any discussion' about Yaya Touré and Ebola for patient confidentiality reasons.

A spokesman did confirm the Ivory Coast captain was back at the training ground yesterday.

Speaking about his two players, Pardew said: 'We'd be naive not to have concerns. We have a strategy for when they return and making sure they and their families are taken care of.

'They're essential to us and our doctor has looked into the problems that might arise and also protection for them and to make sure we do our very best to help them.' 

Midfielder Tiote has been in DR Congo with the Ivory Coast, while Cisse was with Senegal in Dakar this week. Neither country has an outbreak.

Pardew continued: 'The two boys who travelled to Africa are not back yet but reports are that they're both well.

'Of course it's a worry when you've got players such a long way away, you're just looking at your phone hoping no messages come thorough that are negative. We've been lucky this time around.' 

A spokesman for Swansea insisted the checks being given to Bony were no different to those given to all players returning from international games.

But he said the club was 'well aware' of the Ebola situation.  

He said: 'Out of our players, it is only Bony that has returned from Africa. The club is well aware of the situation, but the doctors are quite relaxed about it.  

'He will go through normal fitness checks and medical tests which any player returning from an international game would go through.'

A football source said yesterday that the Premier League was not 'particularly concerned' about any risk of the deadly virus being brought back.

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A Pakistani Christian woman is sentenced to death by hanging for 'blasphemous' comments about prophet Mohammed

A Pakistani Christian woman has been sentenced to hang after she was accused of making 'blasphemous' comments about the prophet Mohammed during an argument. 

While working as a berry picker in 2009, 46-year-old Asia Bibi got into a dispute with a group of Muslim women who objected to her drinking their water because as a Christian she was considered 'unclean'.

Hours after the incident one of the women reported mother-of-five Ms Bibi to a local cleric, claiming she had made disparaging remarks about the prophet Mohammed during the row.

As a result of the allegations, a furious mob arrived at Ms Bibi's home and savagely beat her and members of her family. 

She was later arrested, charged with blasphemy and eventually sentenced to death - with her entire family forced to go into hiding after receiving threats on their lives.

This week, despite international outrage and hundreds of thousands of people signing a petition for her release, Ms Bibi lost an appeal to have her sentence overturned, meaning she now faces death by hanging.

Daughters

 The shocking case hit global headlines after two prominent politicians who tried to help Ms Bibi were assassinated, one by his own bodyguard.

Lawyers showered the killer with rose petals when he appeared in court and the judge who convicted him of murder had to flee the country. 

Ms Bibi's lawyer, Naeem Shakir, said her accusers have contradicted themselves many times since first raising their complaint.

Two witnesses allegedly involved in the incident did not appear in court, he said. 

A Muslim prayer leader did appear, saying he did not witness the original altercation, but that Ms Bibi had confessed to the supposed crime in front of him.

Speaking of Ms Bibi's failed appeal against her death sentence, Mr Shakir said: 'I was expecting the opposite decision. We will file an appeal to the Supreme Court of Pakistan in a few days.'

But Gulam Mustafa, the lawyer for the complainant, said the court's decision was correct.

'Asia's lawyer tried to prove that the case was registered on a personal enmity but he failed to prove that,' he said.

Protest for her release

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The time Manchester United show they are among the Top Clubs in England- United Assistant Manager 'Ryan Giggs'

Manchester United assistant manager Ryan Giggs says the moment has arrived for Louis van Gaal's revamped team to confirm they are ready to mix it with the elite clubs in English football once again.

Radamel Falcao, Daley Blind and Angel di Maria are among the star names added to the United squad since Van Gaal's arrival at the club and Giggs hopes their presence will transform the team's fortunes against the Premier League big-hitters.

United have yet to face a side that finished in the top four of last season's title race, but games against league leaders Chelsea and champions Manchester City will be on their agenda following this weekend's trip to face West Bromwich Albion.

"These are the games you want to be involved in and play in and they will be a test," Giggs told the club's official website.

"Chelsea have probably been the standout team so far, with City just behind them and we want to be up there testing ourselves against those teams. We feel that we do belong up there but we perhaps haven't shown it consistently this season.

"We've shown glimpses over the last few weeks and hopefully we'll have a lot of players coming back for those games. The form has slowly begun to get better and better and we want to hit form going into those matches."

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Fighting Ebola: Texas Hospital Releases Video of Ebola-Stricken Nurse

Dallas nurse and Ebola patient Nina Pham departed Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital for the National Institute of Health's Clinical Center in Maryland on Thursday. Before she left, Pham, 26, was visited by her treating physician, Dr. Gary Weinstein, who recorded his conversation with her. 

Weinstein praised Pham and her fellow nurses for their heroic efforts working to treat Thomas Eric Duncan, the Liberian man who was initially admitted to the hospital with Ebola. Pham was in incredibly high spirits and looked healthy, despite the severity of her illness. Her condition was upgraded to "good" on Tuesday.

"Don't cry, don't cry!" Dr. Weinstein says, as Pham tears up. "We're really proud of you."

"Come to Maryland, everybody!" jokes Pham, wiping away tears.

"Party, Party in Maryland," laughs Weinstein.

Pham, 26, was diagnosed with the virus on Sunday. The other nurse who contracted Ebola in Dallas, Amber Vinson, was flown on Wednesday to Emory University Hospital in Atlanta. The Emory and NIH units are two of the four facilities in the United States that are specially equipped to handle Ebola.

Pham has been hailed as a hero for her work with Duncan. "We have heroes that are willing to make sacrifices when no one else will," colleague Jennifer Joseph told the Independent. "Because I know for a fact that she would take care of him again."

The nurse's attitude throughout this entire experience has certainly been heroic. She told supporters on Tuesday she was "doing well" while also thanking everyone "for their kind wishes and prayers." That Pham can maintain her cheery outlook and energy while the rest of the country is flipping out over the disease is inspiring. The rest of the country could learn a lesson in bravery from her: In the face of sheer chaos, keep calm and keep smiling.

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